Spectators were on Friday ordered to pay compensation to Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after he admitted assaulting him following last month’s north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
Joseph Watts, 35, jumped out of the crowd and lunged at Ramsdale with his foot when the 24-year-old goalkeeper went to get a bottle of water from behind the goal after Arsenal won 2-0.
Tottenham fan Watts pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court near London to assault by beating, moving into an area adjacent to a playing area and throwing a missile into a football playing area.
He was ordered to pay £100 (112 euros, $119) in restitution to Ramsdale and carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
The pub worker from north London was also banned from attending football matches for four years.
The district judge who sentenced Watts called the attack “relatively short, consisting of one punch”.
“It has had some psychological effects and he (Ramsdale) will have this in the back of his mind when he goes to work in the future,” the judge added.